Nick Foles set records last week in Oakland. This week wasn’t anything close to that, but it was another bit of evidence that he can be the Eagles starting QB.

Foles didn’t have any great moments. He didn’t make any “wow” throws. That’s okay. Foles showed good QB skills.

* He only threw 18 passes, but 3 of them were TD passes of 32 yards or more. The deep ball to DeSean got caught in the wind. The deep ball to Riley was thrown awkwardly, but that was by design. Foles wanted to place the ball away from the Safety.

The other TD to Cooper was a good throw. That ball was on time and on target.

* Foles made good decisions. He was aggressive with downfield throws, but not reckless or careless.

* Foles showed good mobility. He had 5 carries for 41 yards. There were 3 kneel-downs that changed the numbers, but those don’t count toward mobility.

Nick isn’t a fast, athletic or elusive runner. He is a smart runner. He runs when that is the best option. If the D goes hard after Shady, Foles will keep the ball and run. If no receiver is open and there is room, Foles will scramble.

That’s what you need at QB. Functional mobility. It would be great if he was able to run for 30 yards on a play, but you don’t need that, even in an offense like Chip Kelly’s. You do need a QB to keep the defense honest. Foles can be that guy.

* My favorite throw of the game came when Foles slid to his right and hit Cooper over the middle. That throw was on the move. Nothing special, but showed the ability to be accurate without having his feet set.

* The Eagles were 0 for 4 in the Red Zone. The final RZ trip came at the end of the game and that’s when there were kneel-downs. I need to study the other trips before I can say too much about whether Foles did a good job or not.

* I think Foles passes the eye test. He looks the part of the starting QB. He has command of the offense. There aren’t wasted timeouts. There aren’t plays where he is completely confused and bickering with the receivers on the way back to the LOS. Foles handles pressure well, for the most part. No QB likes defenders in his face, but I don’t see Foles being overly bothered. He’s able to stay in the pocket if needed. He can slide to the left or right. He can also run. There is no Kolb in his game. That’s where you keep backing up and creating a new pocket 5 yards deeper.

Foles just went on the road against the 10th/12th ranked defense in Oakland and the 14th/15th ranked defense in Green Bay and he posted good numbers. He previously ripped up the Tampa defense, which was highly rated at the time.

Foles is slowly but surely making his case to be the starting QB. He will likely keep the job for the final 6 games. The more good games he plays, the better his case is. At the end of the season, the coaches will have a good feel for Foles and what he can/can’t do on a consistent basis.

They’ll head into the offseason with the question of whether they can upgrade on Foles. That will be determined by 2 factors. The first will be how well Foles plays overall. The second will be where the Eagles are picking in the draft. The better Foles plays, the harder it will be to upgrade. The lower in the round the Eagles pick, the harder it will be to upgrade.

* Foles is a couple of attempts short of qualifying, but would lead the league in QB rating if he was eligible.

* He would lead the NFL with 9.24 yards per pass attempt.

* Foles is tied for 3rd in the league in pass plays of 40 or more yards. He’s got 9. So does Drew Brees. I sure didn’t expect that to be the case. This is crazy since Foles has less than half the attempts.

* In the last 2 games, he has 12 incompletions and 10 TDs.

* He is only the 2nd QB in history to throw 10 TDs and no INTs over a 2-game span.

The sample size is just 4.5 games, but it is growing and the numbers continue to be mind-blowing.

_

ICDogg

♪ You can’t always get what you wa-ant ♫

Mitchell

It’s worth noting again, that this is only Foles’ 2nd year in the league and first under Chip Kelly. He doesn’t even have a whole year of starting experience. Foles should be able to build on what he has done this year and continue learning the intricacies of this offense. All he has done is show improvement thus far and I hope Foles keeps it up.

jshort

Build on what? He’s already the football equivalent of ” The Natural”. Might be what happened to him in the Dallas game. Only Joe Banner was playing the judge. Banner didn’t plan on the concussion making Foles completely forget the young Kim Basinger look alike. Two weeks later at the Oakland coliseum pregame, Foles spots his childhood girlfriend and the rest is history. If he throws a couple two three TDs this week, and they win at home with the lights blowing out, you’ll realize I might have solved the Dallas mystery……….since it’s story telling day!

Baloophi

Great quote from Chip Kelly on Foles:

“…he may not be fleet of foot, but he’s fleet of mind.”

ACViking

Okay . . . so — in closing argument I ask — is Kelly saying that Vick is not?

A_T_G

(Amended from last post, because it fits)

When I filled up my tank recently, I reset the average mpg calculation. As I left the station and stepped on the gas (harder than strictly necessary) it said I was getting an average of 4 mpg! Right then and there I was ready to declare that the car was not fit for road use and leave it on the shoulder.

Then, as I coasted down the hill to the stop sign, it said I was averaging 99 mpg! Best car ever!

Then I pulled out from the stop sign…

Now I am thinking that maybe I need to be patient. The car used to get good mileage around our old home, before having a wheel bearing worked on. I think maybe it is too soon to judge how well it will perform now and I need to be patient until I gather a little more data.

Baloophi

Wait, is this about the healthcare roll-out?

A_T_G

No, I said my car is running well.

ICDogg

I was having all kinds of trouble with my car today. I would turn the key, and it wouldn’t crank, it didn’t even click. I tried to get a jump start, but it was not helpful. I started futzing around with the fuses and the modules that plug in under the hood, but nothing was working. Finally I put my foot on the brake, turned the key on, shifted it into neutral, and then it started perfectly. Apparently the neutral safety switch is not working right in park.

Not sure what this has to do with Nick Foles, though.

A_T_G

Nick Foles? I thought we were talking about healthcare?

Baloophi

Ha!

How about we combine the two? Is anyone worried about his concussion?

ACViking

Another confession required.

ACViking

There’s nothing wrong with the ACA . . .

Accept it.

Embrace it.

It’s our future.

Baloophi

100% agree.

I was aiming for apolitical commentary re: the hullabaloo over the website…

ICDogg

I’ve been trying to get my ID validated since the beginning of October. Apparently they don’t believe I exist.

Baloophi

You’re like Jason Bourne!

ACViking

It’s okay. We know you do.

A_T_G

If your avatar is your ID photo, I might see the issue.

ACViking

I know.

But I couldn’t, at this hour, get an apolitical ACA post up.
____________

You’re sharper with words, I confess . . .

Although I always tell my clients, “Never Confess!!!”

Baloophi

That is solid legal strategy. BUT just so everyone’s clear, ACViking is not offering this morsel in any sort of official, attorney-client capacity.

ACViking

75% of good legal strategy is 50% mental.

Baloophi

So what’s the remaining 30%?

ACViking

Having a smart client who understands how the government puts its case together and what the government holds out as its evidence.

fran35

Got it.

My car is a sexy sports car. However, it is very unreliable. But man, when it is running and hitting on all cylinders it is impressive. The problem is,it is very rarely running well. It has had several different owners who saw its potential and bought it. But time and time again it failed these drivers and left them stranded. I keep thinking “this car has so much potential, if I could just get it running to its potential”. The problem is, if I keep relying on this car and it keeps making me late, I will eventually lose my job.

sprawl

“The deep ball to DeSean got caught in the wind.”

I just watched the replay 20 times and right when the ball is up at its peak it seems like a wind gust forced it to come down early at a weird angle compared to how it went up.

Wasn’t the greatest looking throw but I’m happy with the result and kind of wondering if anyone else saw what I did on the replay?

Baloophi

Kelly also said the wind knocked it down.

He also said it played a factor for Henery…

ACViking

Kelly’s been known to kibitz with the media

Baloophi

As long as he doesn’t schvitz with the media I’m fine with it…

ACViking

But I know you read that Kelly likes to run the stadium steps before the game.

That’s just because no one confesses to getting their lunch without paying when it happens. Probably based on the advice of some crackpot lawyer.

ACViking

It’s all good though . . . because Miranda doesn’t apply to them.

A_T_G

See, I knew the gauntlet wouldn’t lie there on the ground for long!

Jerry Pomroy

I noticed it too. On the incompletion to DJax, Foles loft it up & I thought it either hit a bird or the cameras the way it came down awkwardly. The wind was playing with the ball all game. I noticed it gust on both of Henery’s kicks. On the one he made the wind grabbed it not once but three times.

anon

that’s what happens when the throw doesn;t have a lot of velocity

Daniel Norman Richwine

I’m a numbers guy, and its getting hard to ignore Foles’ numbers. You can’t do this week after week and somehow suck…

ACViking

I removed my comment.

Thank you, and good evening.

A_T_G

Miami-TB, hard to get particularly excited for this one.

Although I did just learn that a guy on the coverage team going out of bounds voluntarily is only a 5-yard penalty. That might be worth it. Send two gunners, unblocked, down the white stripe on each side? As a bonus, if the receiving team blocks you anyway, it is a 15-yarder.

ACViking

Football analytics . . . beautiful

Baloophi

Why bother with running the white stripe? Just send them from the sideline?

A_T_G

I am visualizing a guy hiding behind the first down marker as the returner turns the corner and shifts into high gear. He jumps out and just cardboard boxes the guy, stands over him like it is Frank Gifford on the ground, then takes five bigs steps backwards and shrugs.

Baloophi

Hiding behind the first down marker is a great tactic. But why not go a step further? Clad a gunner in a smock made from turf and plant him near the ten yard line before the kick (obviously not on a hash mark or across the actual ten yard line because then he’d have to align himself).

When the kick is in the air, he sheds his turf skin, monkey rolls to his feet and tackles the receiver in the end zone… maybe even recovers the “live ball” for an easy touchdown.

If you think Belichick hasn’t drawn this up, you’re crazy…

A_T_G

Okay, if we can get AC Viking to represent us in our coaching contract negotiations I think we are poised to revolutionize the game.

I also have an idea that involves installing a ball-pump needle in the center’s glove that should help cut down on fumbles on running plays. A flat ball is so much easier to keep ahold of.

Baloophi

What I like about your “Deflated Balls” package of plays is that it can help set up this play later in the season…

I like it, but, boy, is that kid lucky there wasn’t someone waiting for him behind that first down marker!

Baloophi

Ha! Apparently, that’s Will and Jada Pinkett’s Smith nephew…

Baloophi

Smug reporter Adam Schefter on Kelly’s “reluctance” to name Foles the starter the rest of the way:

“If you don’t know if he’s the guy, then you know.”

Very unfair. Pretty soon the narrative will shift to “Kelly is undermining his team by not naming the greatest young quarterback we’ve ever seen his quarterback.”

At the end of the season, no matter what happens, it’ll be fun to track a particular national reporter’s spin on the Eagles from hiring Kelly, to blowing out Washington in the opener, to not scoring points in two consecutive games, to Foles’s record day, to whatever happens when Vick is healthy, to whatever ultimately happens to the team.

I suspect it’ll sound not unlike a seven year old’s account of his day school…

ACViking

Schefter’s always struck me as a guy whose more than satisfied skimming the cream off the top.

I’m not sure what the job requirements are for being a “national NFL reporter.”

Curiosity — that is, the desire and initiative to dig beyond the easy answer — seems not be among the prerequisites.

Baloophi

I think full head of hair, and shiny teeth are at the top of the list.

A_T_G

The next ESPN expert?

Baloophi

Captain Fluffers?

Mitchell

ME!!! I will saturate the networks with generic commentary and completely asinine analysis! MUHAHAHAHA

Baloophi

Don’t forget to – in the middle of a broadcast – look at your phone as if you’re getting exclusive, insider information…

If you need a reference point, check out Ziggy from “Quantum Leap”… who bears an odd resemblance to ICDogg from above…

Ben Hert

Cylons only care about Pyramid.

Baloophi

ICDogg??

I fully support this idea!

GB

Its not just 4.5 games however…in the games he started last year, even though with a decimated offense and as a rookie, Foles showed good things as well and rarely put the team in a hole

Neil

While throwing 35-50 times every single game.

Baloophi

RE: Challenge-gate

Kelly said Shurmur was up in the booth watching the feed but didn’t see a replay on the (Evil) Boykin “catch.” What are the chances he wasn’t really watching the game, but sipping a scotch and watching re-runs of his “Hard Knocks” season?

A_T_G

The real tragedy here is that, without that catch, (Good) Boykin might have had more receiving yards from GB QBs than (Evil) Boykin.

TheRogerPodacter

i was reading that Shurmur didn’t have a live feed of the game as it was being broadcast to us. instead, he got some other view of the game and he said it looked like the receiver got 2 feet down.
the interesting question becomes…what feed to GB give to opposing teams?? (stoking that conspiracy fire a little lol)

mksp

Football is a funny game. A lot of people have been talking about the 9:32 drive to close out the game.

But, with 6:42 left, Eagles get stuffed on a 3rd and 2. Fortunately Lane Johnson jumped offsides just before the snap. Eagles get a 2nd life and convert the 3rd and 7 on a James Casey screen.

SteveH

Watching that live, I felt like the refs blowing the whistle may have impacted the blocking. False starts are weird like that, sometimes some guys go all out, some 50%, and some just stand there.

mksp

Dion Jordan is either being misused or is underperforming in Miami. At a minimum, he doesn’t look like the right fit (which many speculated at the time, since DJ was seen as a 3-4 OLB, not 4-3 DE).

What could we offer to the Dolphins?

Is there some package of Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, 2nd or 3rd round picks that we could send? Would you trade the 2014 1st for him if its in the low 20s / high teens? Would the Dolphins give up on him so early?

Also: Watching Lavontae David play is becoming as painful as watching Earl Thomas. This one is on Howie though. I wonder if under Chip’s philosophy (bigger + longer athletes) we would have gone with LD over Mychal Kendricks with the 46th pick in the 2012 draft.

Mitchell

That would be interesting if Miami would trade Jordan for a mid first round pick. The thing to consider next is whether or not one of the OLB’s in the draft this year would be an even better fit than Jordan.

Baloophi

Two quick thoughts:

1) MIA would want more than a mid-round first (hard to sell a “losing” trade to the fans after just one season with a top pick… we’d have to throw in a player or later round pick.

2) I don’t think we would trade our first. BUT, we might trade mid-round picks… and maybe a Barkley?

Don_the_Hun

Do you think we could package them picks and Trent Cole or/and Brandon Graham? Its becoming evident that Graham definitely can’t adjust to our scheme, but there is enough tape on him dominating as a 4-3 end.

mksp

No one is trading for Trent Coles. Who will probably be cut anyway.

Mitchell

I guess it comes back to, how much is Dion worth? if we are confident he can be an impact player and we need a OLB anyway, why not trade the first? I do agree to throw in a player or two. Hell, throw in Barkley AND Graham.

Insomniac

Why would you trade a first for someone who can’t pass rush? That won’t solve any of our problems unless you think DJ will play safety since Wolff is out for a few games now.

Mitchell

Once again it comes back to what the organization thinks he is worth. I said IF we are confident he can be the player we need him to be. I never said we DEFINATELY should. I’m not really sure how the top pass rushers stack up in this draft. If someone is better in 2014, by all means, get that guy.

Jerry Pomroy

But why would you be so willing to give up what essentially equates to a 1st rd pick, 3rd-4th rd pick (guessing NFL market value) in Graham & a 4th-5th for Barkley for a guy that is a developmental project anyway & as much of a guess as Graham adapting & Barkley developing into a solid backup. I understand that NFL player trades don’t garner return value & you’re looking at trading off square pegs & you’re also assuming that we may end up with a late 1st rd pick. But it’s still a 1st rd pick & the fact that DJ is struggling at a position he may not be suited for doesn’t mean he is still valued high as an OLB. In my opinion, he doesn’t project at DE or 3-4 OLB unless you play him on the weak side & load to his side to free him up. He plays well in space, but had serious issues taking on blockers. If an O-lineman stayed square or got a hand on him, he had zero effect in the pass rush. However, he had phenomenal skills in the flat & secondary & was all over the field & always around the ball. He wasnt the first in on the tackle & would often over pursue due to his speed. But if was coached up & learned to throttle down he could be lights out in coverage. That’s why I said he’d be an absolute freak of a Safety.

mksp

Remember that DJ didn’t really get a chance to workout this offseason because of his injury. Give him a full offseason to get stronger, and I bet he looks a lot better next year.

Jerry Pomroy

True. From what I’ve seen he’s put on 12lbs. He was listed at the combine at 248lbs & his NFL profile now lists him at 260lbs. On a side note, I’ve also read that he’s actually not fairing too badly at DE, they just aren’t playing him much for whatever reason.

I guess in the grand scheme of things, I’d probably rather have a tweener like DJ in our 3-4, than Graham in our 3-4, especially if DJ could develop a pass rush on par with Graham.

Mitchell

Yes I would agree with the edit. I don’t claim to have any idea what DJ can or will do in the future. I was just kind of playing around with ideas. I would say just pick up what is presumably a better OLB in this years draft. Good explanation though.

Insomniac

DJ didn’t have much pass rush skills in the first place. He needs to develop them while he plays DE. I wouldn’t trade a first round pick. That’s for proven players not a developing player.

Jerry Pomroy

Thank you. We need an OLB that can get to the QB consistently & DJ just doesn’t seem to fit that bill as he wasn’t much of a pass rusher in Oregon & hadn’t developed that part of his game yet but was lightning quick. I dunno about anyone else but I wanta punishing beast at OLB, not a really big safety, which is how I felt DJ played.

Graham still gets pressures but he is getting paltry snaps and then, of those, they only have him rushing about 1/2 the time.

With as little as they use him, I’d trade him for whatever we can get at a position of need (CB, OLB, something else).

Insomniac

I rather trade him for a 3rd round draft pick unless someone gives me a CB or safety that has equal potential.

mksp

A 1st round pick is by definition a developing player. DJ is the same athlete we thought he was in April.

Insomniac

DJ can cover.

The first round OLBs in the draft can do rush and cover. What’s your point besides that DJ is tall?

mksp

He needs to add strength + technique. Still has a lot of potential. I’d rather take DJ than van noy or Mack.

Jerry Pomroy

I guess that’s the tough part, he’s a great athlete but doesn’t plug right into a position without either developing skill & adding strength or being used very creatively. I wouldn’t mind him, don’t get me wrong. I think it would be extremely funny to watch him line up all over the field causing QBs to waste timeouts seeing him lined up on the slot receiver not knowing if he’s coming or going, or (and this is my favorite) lined up in the secondary as the underneath safety at 6’6″-260lbs with 4.60 speed, daring you to throw over the middle on 3rd down but I’m just not willing to give up a 1st & two young players that have value for a guy that “may” not develop those skills & always be reliant on the creativity of the coaching staff. If he had the strength, but was just extremely raw & needed technique, I could certainly see giving that up, if not a little more.

Jerry Pomroy

I will say that Miami didn’t do themselves any favors. If you’re running a 4-3 & wanted a 4-3 DE, then Ansah was there & projected better to that role.

SteveH

I thought Foles had one decision that was questionable, on the one where Desean lost it in the sun? Seemed like he was just throwing it up for grabs there, but I could be wrong. Other than that hard to question the decision making.

Baloophi

Yeah that didn’t seem great. He was hit on the release (I think?) but that doesn’t necessarily make it a better decision.

That being said, Sigmund Bloom from Tommy’s link talks about how going deep generally benefits the offense.

Yeah, I remember him being taken off his feet as he threw. At the time, I thought it fell about 20 yards short of where he was aiming, but maybe he was trying to drop it in that gap… It definitely seemed to be up there forever.

Iskar36

Definitely a poor decision on that play. He got hit which is what caused him to throw it so poorly, but that’s a play where taking the sack is the safer option.

fran35

That was the worst decision of his day. I was cursing him. Bad time for a lob/jump ball and do that to Jackson’s side?!? Not sure what Nick was thinking there, but he made mostly smart decisions otherwise.

xeynon

There’s no argument that Dallas game aside Foles has been very impressive this season. 3.5 good-to-excellent games against 1 bad one is a ratio you can accept from any starting quarterback. He needs to start for the rest of the year, however, to see if he can consistently execute at this level. If he’s anything close to this good over the last six games the team is likely to be in the playoffs and unlikely to have a shot at a top QB prospect, but at that point I’d be perfectly content to make him the starter going in to next season and use that first round pick on a pass-rushing OLB or stud CB.

Vick or Nick

This next game is really REALLY huge against WASH at home.

1. Eagles D can shut down the Skins run game. And will continue to force opportunistic turnovers. D should hold them under 21.

2. If Ponder can look like a functional QB against Skins D, Foles should be able to torch their secondary. Period.

3. Shady has to continue his hard nose running. Get the yards that are there. The long runs will come as they did against GB.

4. Chip’s play calling has been very good. Hes dialed back on the read-option plays. The Eagles ran a lot of stretch plays out of a one back set with Foles under center that went for good gains.

5. Eagles have to win at home? right? I hope Eagles can score some early touchdowns to get the Linc fired up. Long TD pass to Cooper/Jackson or long run by McCoy would really get the crowd into it.

Division is there for the taking. Objectively, Eagles are playing the best football out of all the NFC East teams the past two weeks. In my eye’s this is a must win.

I still have a feeling the last game at Dallas will be a win and in situation. But we need to improve the division record.

Baloophi

Good Fran Duffy piece on the final 9:32 drive. (Discussion of defense is the top 1/3 of the article)…

1) Right now, Chip Kelly’s Foles offense is essentially a stripped down Kubiak offense, or a cousin thereoff. Less wide zone runs, a bit more screens, and plenty of play action passes. Broadly speaking, this is not a great offense for the postseason because it basically relies on misdirection. More than that, it requires such technical capabilities, such that you’re not really running a situationally robust offense, given all the practice needed for your key plays.

2) The really big problem is that conceptually, as a passer, Foles is really rather limited. Matt Schaub, pre-Suh, was capable of a utilizing a variety of passing concepts, and what’s more, he generally was willing to pass into NFL sized windows. Foles will not attempt anything like that, and generally, the tightest windows I’ve seen him challenge on is some kind of zone busting play like a seam, or when he rolls out right to buy time for coverage to break down, especially for the neglected-side post route. He also has been the beneficiary of rather spectacularly bad safety play, and reasonably good OL protection. RGIII, running a very vaguely similar offense, also has many screen and play-action passes, for example, but RGIII is far more likely to attempt real reads and attempt difficult throws where the situation calls for that. Matt Barkley, bless his arrogant n00b heart, attempts more difficult throws, without being able to really read the coverage right, or even necessarily have the arm strength for such throws as came up in a game. Even Joe freakin’ Webb, super raw, will routinely attempt and make deep outs, sticks, wheel, corner routes, with the low-arc ball dropped on the dime. He will attempt to fit the ball between defensive players, and make it some of the time. Without it being a freakin’ jump ball.

3) As a result, I can’t see Chip Kelly being truly happy to stay with Foles, even as he must be happy with his results. We try this stuff against Seattle, on one of their good days, and we’d get absolutely plastered. That Riley Cooper catch where he runs along the goaline would be intercepted by Earl Thomas, or a lesser talented S, but on the ball, that particular play. What about SF or Carolina, who have shaky backfields? Both teams have good front sevens, and Carolina has about as good a front four as you can get, with good LBs. They will focus on clogging the lanes with just their fronts, and send backside blitzes when they anticipate PA, and rely on their linemen to handle a run on a bad guess.

I simply don’t view Foles as an NFL starter. He throws a very catchable ball, and he’s been able to lob it up, and lob it to very wide open WRs. And that’s worked out for him this year–very high TD% compared to last year. A lot of play-action passes covers his weaknesses reasonably well. However, so far, this performance is a little too much like Derek Anderson’s 2007, with a good OL and Braylon Edwards snatching his mess. Gotta do more than throw a catchable ball up for grabs.

A_T_G

Well, that is still 10 times the credit you gave him a few months ago. I call that progress.

“this is not a great offense for the postseason because it basically relies on misdirection.”

You are so wrong. Every offense has some misdirection in terms of play action, bootlegs, motion etc.
The Eagles offense are mostly on sound execution, beating your man in front of you and taking advantage of the numbers, so if they stack the box, you pass, if they go light, you run. Nothing spectacular about that, but consider you do not think Foles is an NFL starter (remember this is in a league where Blaine Gabbart and Pryor is NFL starters)

RobNE

There are 6 games left, so not sure why we need to have this discussion now without more games to evaluate his performance, unless you think the Eagles should (based on your evaluation) tank the rest of the games.

And so you think the Eagles should do…what? tank the last 6 games? spend limited resources moving way up in the draft (this year, seems like that will be a ransom) with talent deficiencies elsewhere. Is there a FA QB you like?

I think primarily the argument from most here is that Foles has earned the right to start the last 6 games. Using stats like QB rating to support that, not to argue that he is Brady. It’s easy to say Foles could have attributes that would be more optimal (that is likely quite true), and I know you aren’t arguing about what is optimal but rather what is adequate (to win a SB), but there are 6 games left and a division title still possible.

I don’t mean to dampen any discussion about the long-term plans of the team, as that is always fun. But it seems like getting an elite (or adequate to win a SB) QB is quite difficult, very hard to judge what is SB adequate (see Eli and Eagles Rewind post from yesterday – is Foles ceiling not where Eli is?), and dismissing someone on your roster should only be done if you are really, really certain. And with 6 games left, why make that decision now?

I know you aren’t the GM and it’s just your opinion, which is fine to have after only 10 games, but I am just playing off your GM opinion. If you are opining then I am suggesting given the parameters re: how NFL teams can acquire talent, why decide now and what does that mean for you right now (what do you do about it)?

fran35

Please keep writing these posts and showing your face on here. It brings me such joy to read your opinions. It really is a unique opportunity for us all to read opinions that so clearly fly in the face of logic and statistical results. In your world, the sky is green, the grass is blue, and Joe Webb is better than Nick Foles. My only regret is that you have seemingly lost the “Robin” to your “Batman” when BigButtandasmile stopped coming around here because he didn’t like how the crow was being prepared.

theycallmerob

Highest Total QBR
Among QB In 2nd Year As StarterNick Foles79.2<>+36.1 diff from 2012 to 2013
(best in NFL)

guess those guys aren’t starters either

theycallmerob

hmmm

GEAGLE

Foles keeps playing like this would anyone actually be comfortable trading him straight up for Teddy or Marriotta? Great college QBs aren’t a lock to translate….the only QB I would trade FOles for if he keeps playing like the is Jamis winston

Michael Jorden

If he keeps playing like this, of course you don’t trade him. As you know =)

RobNE

if you had the # 1 overall pick would you trade it for Foles? I think not.

Joseph Dubyk

I would…. 25 years old and a polished pocket passer who is throwing out of his mind? That’s what you’re hoping to draft with the #1 overall..

Joseph Dubyk

Finally finding a kid who could be your franchise guy and trade him for an unknown commodity? Would be the dumbest trade on the planet for the Eagles.

GEAGLE

Question…I’m assuming it’s too late to offer Riley an extension?
..
Can’t wait to see Chip/gamble/Howie draft WRs…they hit on LT,TE,NT and S prospects…I can’t wait to see them draft WRs

Anders

As I have asked people, do you want to give Cooper 6+ million a year?

ceteris_paribus1776

Where you pulling this number? Does this amount include base and guarantee or is this just the base number?

Anders

Based on what Brian Hartline got from the dolphins, think it was 5 years around 30 mill and 12 mill in guaranteed

Hey Tommy, .could we get the link to chipwagon in the blog roll? I thought it was already here for some reason but I don’t see it. Seems like a really nice site and I use Igglesblitz as a first stop / jumping off point to other quality blogs. Regarding Foles – all he needs to do is stay confident and keep improving. Winning division games at home could sure go a long way..

ICDogg

The Eagles are bringing wide receiver/return specialist Brad Smith in for a physical on Tuesday and expect to sign him by the end of the day. (I assume Damaris Johnson is the odd man out.)

Stormbringer

I don’t get why they are bringing in a guy that didn’t play WR in college and is old to boot. If they want another, why don’t they sign a younger player that has more experience with the position. Do they think he’d really be better than someone like Tommy Streeter, Corey Fuller or even old draft pick Marvin McNutt?

Daniel

re: the eye test

The long distance “punts” that Foles throws still drive me nuts. That ball that got lost in the sun for DeSean is an example. Is this compensating for lack of arm strength? Is it correctable?

Remember in 2010, there was a great post on how Vick was unbelievably lucky with not being intercepted. Sure enough, that rate came back to earth in 2011. I can’t help but feel we’re really lucky Foles isn’t getting picked off more. I would love to see some discussion on his actual mechanics.

Joseph Dubyk

He was throwing into swirling winds.

Joseph Dubyk

Its a shame Kelly didnt get it right the first time and start Foles from the get go- We would’ve had a much bigger sample size to go from and the decision would’ve been a little easier.

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